The following is a list of abbreviations that appear in the text of articles from the Dictionary. Click on a letter to go to that section in the list:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ab about
abbr abbreviation
abl ablative
acc accusative
AD Anno Domini
adj adjective
adv adverb
AF Anglo-French
Afrik Afrikaans
alter. alteration
am ante meridiem
AmerF American French
AmerInd American Indian
AmerSp American Spanish
apprec appreciative
approx approximate, approximately
Ar Arabic
Arab Arabian
Aram Aramaic
arch. archaic
Arm Armenian
attrib attributive
aug augmentative
Austr Australian
AV Authorized Version
b born
BC before Christ
Br British
Bret Breton
c century
C Celsius, centigrade
Can Canadian
CanF Canadian French
Cant Cantonese
cap capital, capitalized
Catal Catalan
Celt Celtic
cf compare
Chin Chinese
comb combining
compar comparative
conj conjunction
contr contraction
D Dutch
Dan Danish
dat dative
deriv derivative
derog derogatory
dial. dialect
dim. diminutive
E East, Eastern
E English
e.g. for example
Egypt Egyptian
Eng English, England
esp especially
est. estimate, estimated
etc et cetera
euph euphemistic
F Fahrenheit
fem feminine
fl floruit, flourished
Flem Flemish
fr from
Fr French
freq frequentative
Fris Frisian
ft feet
Gael Gaelic
gen genitive
Gen genesis
Ger German
Gk Greek (to AD 200)
Gmc Germanic
Goth Gothic
Heb Hebrew
Hitt Hittite
Hung Hungarian
Icel Icelandic
i.e. that is
IE Indo-European
imit imitative
imper imperative
incho inchoative
Ind Indian
indef indefinite
indic indicative
infin infinitive
interj interjection
interrog interrogative
IrGael Irish Gaelic
irreg irregular, irregularly
Isa Isaiah
Isv International Scientific Vocabulary
It Italian
Jav Javanese
km kilometre(s)
L Latin (to AD 200)
LaF Louisiana French
LG Low German
LGk late Greek (201-600)
LHeb Late Hebrew
lit. literally
Lith Lithuanian
LK Luke
LL Late Latin (201-600)
m metres
masc masculine
max. maximum
Mal Malaysia
Mbret Middle Breton
MD Middle Dutch (1100-1500)
ME Middle English (1151-1500)
MexSp Mexican Spanish
MF Middle French (1301-1600)
MFlem Middle Flemish (1301-1600)
MGk Middle Greek (601-1500)
MHeb Middle Hebrew
MHG Middle High German (1101-1500)
Mid Eng Midlands
Mid US Mid United States
MIr Middle Irish (1001-1500)
ML Medieval Latin (601-1500)
MLG Middle Low German (1100-1500)
modif modification
Mer Middle Persian
Mt Matthew
Mt Mount
MW Middle Welsh (1151-1500)
n noun
N North, Northern
NAm North American
naut nautical
NE Eng North East England
neg negative
NEng Northern England
neut neuter
New Eng New England, United States
NGK New Greek (1501-)
NHeb New Hebrew (19th-20th Century)
NL New Latin (1501-)
nom nominative
Norw Norwegian
NW Eng North West England
NW US North West United States
NZ New Zealand
obs obsolete
OCatal Old Catalan
OE Old English (-1150)
OF Old French (-1300)
OFris Old Frisian (-1500)
OHG Old High German (-1100)
OIr Old Irish (601-1100)
OIt Old Italian
OL Old Latin
ON Old Norse (-ab1350)
ONF Old North French
OPer Old Persian
OPg Old Portuguese
Oprov Old Provencal
OPruss Old Prussian
orig original, originally
Oruss Old Russian (1101-1500)
OS Old Saxon (-12 Century)
OSlav Old Slavonic
OSp Old Spanish
OSw Old Swedish
OW Old Welsh (-ab 1150)
p pence
PaG Pennsylvania German
part participle
pass passive
Pek Pekingese
Per Persian
perf perfect
perh perhaps
pers person
Pg Portuguese
phr(s) phrase(s)
pl plural
pm post meridiem
pop. population
pp past participle
prep preposition
pres present
prob probably
pron pronoun
Prov provencal
prov. provisional
prp present participle
RC Roman Catholic
redupl reduplication
refl reflexive
rel relative
Rom Roman
RSV Revised Standard Version
Russ Russian
RV Revised Version
S South, Southern
SAfr South Africa, South African
Sc Scots
Scand Scandinavian
ScGael Scottish Gaelic
Scot Scotland, Scottish
Sem Semitic
Serb Serbian
SEU S Survey of English Usage (spoken)
SEU W Survey of English Usage (written)
Shak Shakespeare
SI Système International d'Unitès
sing. singular
Sing Singapore
Skt Sanskrit
Slav Slavonic
Sp Spanish
specif specifically
Sq square
St Saint
Ste Sainte
subj subjunctive
superl superlative
S US Southern US
Sw Swedish
SW Eng South West England
SW US South Western United States
tech technical
TES Times Educational Supplement
THES Times Higher Educational Supplement
TLS Times Literary Supplement
trans translation
Turk Turkish
UK United Kingdom
US United States
USA Unites States of America
usu usually
va verbal auxiliary
var variant
vb verb
vi verb intransitive
VL Vulgar Latin (used only for assumed forms)
voc vocative
vt verb transitive
vulg vulgar
W Welsh
W West, Western
WI West Indian
WUS Western United States